阿富汗政府计划颁布禁令，禁止人们不顾实际经济能力举办过于奢华的婚礼。

Extravagant¹（奢侈的，浪费的） weddings with music and dance were banned by Afghanistan's Taliban as un-Islamic and now the government plans to again rein² in lavish³（浪费的） marriage celebrations, but this time to stop grooms⁵ going broke.

Since U.S.-backed Afghan forces ousted⁶ the strict Islamist Taliban in 2001, Afghans have revived the tradition of holding big weddings, costing thousands of dollars, in a country where the average annual income is less than $400.

Afghan weddings are celebrated⁷ by hundreds of guests in luxurious⁸ wedding halls with the groom⁴ and his family expected to foot the bill（负担费用，付账） and agree to every request of the bride and her family.

"Wedding ceremonies among people are like a competition, no one wants to come last, people like to show off their wealth by feeding hundreds of guests in costly⁹ wedding halls," said Justice Minister Habibullah Ghaleb.

"Families are the victim of such a wrong tradition and have to accept these heavy burdens," he said.

Details of the planned ban on expensive weddings were still being worked out, said Justice Ministry¹⁰ spokesman Farid Ahmad Najibi, and he acknowledged it could be difficult to enforce because lavish weddings were so ingrained（根深蒂固的） in Afghan culture.

The government's bid to regulate weddings follows similar moves by some tribal¹¹ elders and provincial¹² officials.

Late last month, elders from several villages in northern Jawzjan province banned expensive weddings and dowries（嫁妆） in a bid to encourage young people to marry instead of postponing¹³ their nuptials¹⁴（婚礼） because they could not afford it.

Under the rules, the cost of a wedding must be in line with（一致，符合） the economic status of the groom, and if someone violates the ban then they will not be invited to any other weddings in the village.

"Marriage is everyone's right and it must not be presented as a huge burden for the bride and groom," said Azaad Khwa, an elder from Jawzjan. "Making the groom's family pay for everything and feed hundreds is a big sin."